It was a truism that all civilizations were basically neurotic until they made contact with everybody else and found their place within the ever-changing meta-civilisation of other beings, because, until then, during the stage when they honestly believed they might be entirely alone in existence, all solo societies were possessed of both an inflated sense of their own importance and a kind of existential terror at the sheer scale and apparent emptiness of the universe.

EZ bar bicep curls - went from 40 kgs (88 lbs) to 70 kgs (154 lbs) for in a few sets, 5 reps per set at first, then gradually dropped down to triples.

Also messed around with some dumbbell clean&presses. Did a quick warmup with 32.5 kgs (71 lbs), then straight on to 42.5 kgs (93 lbs). To my surprise the right-arm press was very slow and I barely made it (even had to kick a bit with the legs), but my weaker left arm shot the weight up like it wasn't even there in military style.

Overall, not a bad workout. My lower back is really feeling the constant squatting/deadlifting/power cleaning strain, though, I might have to re-organize things a bit because I'm not recovering well enough at this point.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Aerobic isometrics have been around for a while, but were little known to the public until Ironmind published Steve Justa's excellent book Rock, Iron, Steel. In a twist of the classic functional isometric contraction theory, where one exerts a brief 100% effort against an immovable object for 6-7 seconds, the contraction is longer but at a suitably lower intensity (30-40% is suggested).

I decided to use my long TNT cables for this. It is pretty much impossible to gauge the intensity of the contraction over such a long period of time, so the cables keep me honest - I stretch them to the desired position and hold them there for as long as possible. This is important: after 20-25 seconds the effort seems closer to 60%, and toward the end of the set my muscles are shaking badly and the handles are almost impossible to hold in position.

Some exercises were tough to set up with cables, so I reverted to the Universal Strength Apparatus sold by bodyweightculture.com - the best suspension device on the market, also doubles handily as a portable isometric power rack.

I used light cable resistance and aimed for one minute - long contractions. Made it on most sets, had to cut it short on a few of them. Some exercises I used were:

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

On May 16 Ronald James Padavona, who achieved world-wide fame under the name Ronnie James Dio, lost a six-month long battle with stomach cancer.

He will be remembered first and foremost as the vocal power of one of the most influential metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath, where he replaced another heavy metal icon, Ozzy Osbourne. Dio will later quit Sabbath and go on to form the band Dio with drummer Vinny Appice. At the time of his death he was also heavily involved in another project, Heaven and Hell, together with several former Sabbath musicians.

A heavy metal icon, Dio will be remembered for his extraordinary vocal performances, lyrics, and the "devil's horns" gesture which he popularized and turned into a symbol worshipped by metalheads across the globe. One of my favorite heavy metal vocalists of all time, he leaves behind a legacy of great albums and live performances from the golden era of heavy metal and beyond. A true legend. R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Right shoulder has been tweaked for a while, I don't think the benching and overhead pressing is helping things but it's not bad enough for me to stop. Yet.

I also think I am getting close to my limit in the C&P. This cycle will end at 215 lbs., which I hope to get, then the next target is 220. This is a considerable increase over my all-time best (especially done for reps) and I might have to back-track within the next cycle or two. We shall see.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Weak legs today, I was lacking drive out of the bottom of the squat and my hamstrings were giving up on me. 125 kgs felt heavy, and on the final set every rep past the fourth felt like a max effort. So I did the squatting and pretty much just messed around after that.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Had a great workout today using the TNT cables and door attachment. I set the attachment to three different positions and did a bunch of exercises from each position, working in the 10-12 repetition range and getting a great "pump". Resistances varied - basically I stuck with whatever felt moderately heavy for each exercise (as this was a sort of 'active recovery').

The exercises performed were as follows (1 light and 2 moderate sets):